The water is definitely warming up. Reports of a 2-degree jump in temperature over the last 2 weeks have game fishermen chomping at the bit. The first yellowfin was caught out of the Bay of Islands on the 20th of November aboard Major Tom II, and a hammerhead shark was taken the other day from the same waters. Sure signs that the gamefishing is about to hot up. We can expect the first marlin to be landed any day now and the big yellowfin are beginning to show in the Bay of Plenty with a 43kg fish taken a couple of days ago. Check out the fishing.net.nz news to read about the inclusion of yellowfin tuna in the Gamefish Tagging Programme this year. Big schools of spawning snapper can be found all around the North Island at the moment with great catches coming from the reefs around the Bay of Plenty, the worm beds in the Hauraki gulf and Mita's foul in the Bay of Islands. All are producing large numbers of fish. A youngster even managed to pick up a 24lb snapper out of the schooling fish at the worm beds earlier this week. Some huge snapper have been caught at the Mokes recently with the average size reported being between 7-10kg! An RnR client recently picked up a massive 14.5kg snapper and watch for more big lunkers to come from areas like the far north, the Mercury islands, Mayor and Motiti islands, and the East Cape, especially around Te Kaha. 4-7kg fish are commonplace on the East Cape which means satisfaction guaranteed. All these snapper spots will produce excellent results for those looking for tarakihi, trevally and other bottom species. You’ll have to go out a bit wider for the hapuka but don’t be surprised to connect to one of these in the shallow while targeting snapper, as they to have moved in closer to spawn. On the freshwater scene I can personally report that lake Waikarimoana was phenomenal over opening weekend. I went down with a couple of mates and we caught close to a hundred fish on nymphs and dries, in the rivers flowing into the lake. A couple of great conditioned fish were kept for the smoker and were absolutely delicious. With angling pressure, most of these fish will drop back into the lake over the next couple of weeks so expect the edges to fish really well for cruisers. Lake Aniwhenua will be very similar and is one of the best places around to stalk cruising browns. The shore spin fishers using Tokoroa Chickens are having a ball. They’ve been getting good catches of both browns and rainbows. Fly fishers are truly amazed at the amount of cruising fish that can be seen. These are being caught on a wide variety of flies and methods. Beaded Woolly Buggers tweaked along the bottom, nymphs suspended under dries and sight casting small Pheasant Tails. All are working well. According to Pat O’Keefe the trolling on lake Rotorua has been “the best he’s every seen it”. The lure to use is the no.63 as the smelting activity increases. The pick of the Rotorua lakes would have to be Tarawera though with 7 fish over 10lb coming out of it in the last couple of weeks, the biggest going 13.5lb. Out on Lake Taupo, anglers have seen a great improvement in the numbers and quality of fish being caught. Boat fishermen seem to be doing the best with good reports coming from Wharewaka Pt, Hatepe, Waitahanui, and Waihaha. Lures working well at the moment are the Okataina Special, Spotty Gold, Yellow & White and the Rastafarian Lure. Most fish are being caught at the 80-100 ft mark using the downriggers or the full 100 ft of lead line out. Harling is worth a try in the early morning or just before sunset. Best flies to be using are Pink Panther, Green Orbit, Lime Body Yellow Lady, and the Taupo Tiger Yellow. Smelting activity around the lake edge is still reasonably quiet, but in saying that, reasonable numbers fish are being caught at Wharewaka Pt, and Acacia Bay Pt. The Waikato and King country streams are all fishing well and on clear hot days you should see fish readily rising to take dries. The tributaries of the Waipa river and the Waihou river system are producing good numbers of trout. The lower half of the North Island is experiencing some awesome fishing. The Hawkes Bay is having a great run of big gurnard, which are showing up right around the southern half of the island to Taranaki. Surfcasters in Hawkes Bay are still taking lots of large snapper and plenty of moki are being taken off the beaches around the southern coast. Kingfish are making their presence felt off the Bolder Bank at Kapiti Island as well as Hunters Bank out in the straight and some good-sized albacore have been caught recently out of New Plymouth. The rivers of Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa and the Manawatu are in magnificent condition and are all providing excellent fly and spin fishing for great conditioned trout. With the warmer weather some good hatches are being experienced throughout the day. Down south the big news is that the salmon have started running. Early season fish are reported to be in excellent condition with some really fat fish coming out of the Rangitata in particular. Over the next few weeks the number of fish encountered should start to jump up and fingers are crossed for a bumper season following last years disappointment. Off shore there has been some excellent snapper caught around Nelson and the Marlborough sounds with kingfish also showing up, especially around French Pass. Down around Canterbury beach fishermen have been reporting good catches of elephant fish, particularly south of the Peninsular. Cod are being found everywhere and offshore some great catches of hapuka have been reported. Into the backcountry, where some huge trout are being caught in the rivers and streams on both sides of the divide, especially within the Beech forest where mice and rats are everywhere. The trout have been feasting on them and naturally getting quite fat. Reports of fish up to 16lb have fly fishermen fired up to get amongst them. A west coaster caught a 10.5lb brownie last week with a rats tail hanging out of its mouth. He pulled the rat out and the weight of the fish dropped by half a pound! I reckon the ducklings are going to have to start watching themselves by the sound of things. Down in the lowlands the sea run trout fishing has been phenomenal, especially in Lake Ellesmere where stacks of feed is available to fatten up the fish, which are in awesome condition. Those fishing after dark with large feathered patterns are experiencing the best results. One local has reportedly taken 9 trout between 10 –16lb over the last 2 months! The Rakaia, Rangitata and Hurunui mouths will all produce excellent trout fishing over the next few weeks. In the deep south the sea fishing for cod has been good and salmon are reportedly being taken in the harbour – although without any consistency at this stage. The trout fishery in Otago and Southland is apparently in excellent condition with heaps of trout available in all waterways that are easily taken by both fly and spin fishermen. That about covers it. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it. Best you stop reading and get out there. Tight Lines Peter Francis

 

From The Fishing Website

Report type: Saltwater and Freshwater

Report date: 08 December 00

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